Pelican C84, photo by Deanna Barth
Pelican lovers, take note: Today, we are pleased to announce International Bird Rescue’s Second-Annual Banded Pelican Contest, sponsored by Eagle Optics!
Our inaugural contest in 2012 yielded great results. Within two months, 119 Blue-Banded Pelican numbers were reported, representing an unprecedented number of pelican band sightings. Reporting the location where the bird is seen and the number from its large blue leg band helps us learn more about these birds, including their migration and their survivability in the wild. We have released over 1,100 California Brown Pelicans with blue bands from our wildlife hospitals since 2009. For more reading on the Blue-Banded Pelican Project, click here for a comprehensive overview.
Want to participate in this year’s contest? Whether you’ve spotted the number on a pelican’s metal federal band or an easy-to-read blue band, reporting a banded pelican sighting is easy. Just click here for the online reporting form. As you aid the important scientific research on the travels of the Pelecanus occidentalis, you will be helping in their conservation!
Winners
This year, our friends at Eagle Optics have again made a very generous donation for the winners of this contest. A 
Vortex Nomad 20-60 X 60 Angled Spotting Scope will be awarded to the individual who reports the most sighted band numbers between July 29 and October 14. The runner-up will receive a fabulous pair of 2X Eagle Optics Denali 8 X 42 binoculars. Both winners will also become honorary Pelican Partners, our unique program that includes a private tour of an International Bird Rescue wildlife hospital and the exclusive opportunity to open the cage door to release a rehabilitated pelican back into the wild.
This week, International Bird Rescue’s BirdCam Project is also proudly sponsored by Eagle Optics. Check out a live look at ducklings and other birds in care this week.
Rules
This year’s contest begins July 29 and runs through October 14. Here are the rules:
1. The contest is open to all age groups. Youth participants accompanying adults can report the same birds as their parents. (Employees of International Bird Rescue are ineligible for prizes.)
2. Any banded pelican can be reported. Not all pelicans with a metal, federal band will also have a plastic blue band. Metal bands have a prefix and suffix, e.g. 0669-00130. For birds that have only a metal band, the entire number will need to be reported.
All blue bands begin with a letter and have two numbers following it. For example, A75 or M14. You do not have to report the metal band on Blue-Banded Pelicans, only the blue band.
3. Each reported band must be accurate to be considered.
4. Each bird can only be counted once a day.
5. Dead birds can only be counted once.
6. If you’ve spotted a banded pelican, report your sighting to International Bird Rescue’s online database.
Pelican P11, photo by Kristin McCleery
Help from International Bird Rescue
We’ll be sending and posting updates and hints on the best places to sight these birds over the coming weeks, as well as sharing your stories and providing information on birds with repeat sightings. Check out clues from last year’s contest here.
Pelicans with blue bands are currently being seen from Mexico to Washington state, so if you’re anywhere near the West Coast, you could spot them. Several days ago, Pelican K15, the pelican “poster bird” for last year’s contest that was last reported at Pacifica Pier near San Francisco, was recently spotted in Westport, Wash. in Grays Harbor! If you’re spending some time enjoying the coast, don’t forget to keep your eyes open for blue bands!
Photo Contest
Interested in photographing wildlife? Our Blue-Banded Pelican Contest also includes the opportunity to submit your best Blue-Banded Pelican shot with prizes awarded to the top three best photographs as judged by our committee. Last year’s winning photo, taken by Deanna Barth, can be seen on the 2013 poster here in English and Spanish.
The first-place photograph winner will receive a beautiful Alex and Ani pelican bangle, an honorary International Bird Rescue membership and an International Bird Rescue T-shirt. The second- and third-place winners will receive honorary memberships as well as T-shirts.
Good luck!
Download Blue-Banded Pelican Posters:
Pelican Poster: English (PDF 8.7 MB)
Pelican Poster: Spanish (PDF 2.8 MB)